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Title: Isotopic fractionation in proteins as a measure of hydrogen bond length

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4927391· OSTI ID:22493459
;  [1]
  1. Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012 (India)

If a deuterated molecule containing strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds is placed in a hydrogenated solvent, it may preferentially exchange deuterium for hydrogen. This preference is due to the difference between the vibrational zero-point energy for hydrogen and deuterium. It is found that the associated fractionation factor Φ is correlated with the strength of the intramolecular hydrogen bonds. This correlation has been used to determine the length of the H-bonds (donor-acceptor separation) in a diverse range of enzymes and has been argued to support the existence of short low-barrier H-bonds. Starting with a potential energy surface based on a simple diabatic state model for H-bonds, we calculate Φ as a function of the proton donor-acceptor distance R. For numerical results, we use a parameterization of the model for symmetric O–H⋯O bonds [R. H. McKenzie, Chem. Phys. Lett. 535, 196 (2012)]. We consider the relative contributions of the O–H stretch vibration, O–H bend vibrations (both in plane and out of plane), tunneling splitting effects at finite temperature, and the secondary geometric isotope effect. We compare our total Φ as a function of R with NMR experimental results for enzymes, and in particular with an earlier model parametrization Φ(R), used previously to determine bond lengths.

OSTI ID:
22493459
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 143, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English